Sunday, February 10, 2013

In
the current discussion about the book offers some key players: authors,
publishers, distributors, booksellers, and readers state. To
each ascribed various responsibilities and, among them, reading
comprehension, is a subject that corresponds to the state (through the
education system) and, to varying degrees, the reader.However, thinking as editor, it strikes me that the issue concerns us directly, mainly through editorial design.I
remember about Stanley Morison, one of the most important printers and
scholars in the twentieth century (who designed the famous Times New
Roman), who in his classic Fundamental principles of typography are
defined as: "the art of arranging correctly
printed material according to a specific purpose: to place the letters,
distributing the space and organize the classes in order to provide
maximum assistance to the reader in understanding the text. "Morison
typography understood in a broad sense, which is consistent with the
definition of Emilio Torné in his article "The look of the typographer",
which defines the type design as: "[...] that parcel [design] that
deals books
and manifested, first, in what [it] in French as the mise en page (the
choice of format, paper, binding, setting the box, the column margins, the
design of the cover and the title page, the placement of artwork, etc.)
and, secondly, of what, in French is called mise en texte (the font
inside the book, the uses of round, italics, small caps, bodies, interline, paragraphs, indents, footnotes, indexes, ladillos, etc.). ". That is, editorial design.A
well designed book would be one in which, from choosing the size of the
book to the spacing, were based on utility, not beauty, uniqueness or
production costs. This,
of course, a number of mechanisms developed by the typographic
tradition over centuries, a desktop publishing program can never
replace.Thinking
about it, and suggest those interested to read the texts mentioned, I
wonder if the responsibilities of the State in improving reading
comprehension would not include the training of printers that allow
books that, after overcoming all-get current obstacles to reach new readers, I provide the path to the pleasure of reading and understanding of the reading. I leave the question.Morison, Stanley. Fundamental principles of typography. Barcelona, ​​Bronze Editions, 1998 (1st ed. In English 1929).Torné, Emilio. "The look of the typographer." In: Journal Litterae. I. Written Papers on Culture Madrid, 2001.Image of Stanley Morison, taken from here.